


I Caught A Glimpse, But It's Been Forgotten

by metaphasia



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 03:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16210160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphasia/pseuds/metaphasia
Summary: The only things more embarrassing than showing up to a school dance with your ex-rival was showing up with your cousin or alone, dumped by your boyfriend.





	I Caught A Glimpse, But It's Been Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

  * For [celestialskiff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialskiff/gifts).



> This is an AU version of season 1 episode 9, "Rory's Dance". It may be helpful for clarity to rewatch that episode before reading.
> 
> Title from "So Here We Are" by Bloc Party.

 

Rory arrived home in high spirits. She began her normal afternoon routine of dropping off her bag in her room before grabbing a snack. Throughout the process, she hummed a merry tune. It was a joyous day, and nothing could get her down. While she had not been sold, initially, on the concept of a _school dance_ , especially when combined with _Chilton_ and _attending_ , she was now glad that her mother had talked her into it over the weekend. She was going with Dean, it was a chance to define their relationship better the way Lane had suggested before she talked to him the day before yesterday, her mother was making her a dress, and she had even gotten to twit Paris when picking up the tickets today. Tristan was still hung up on her, but not even his obnoxiousness could bring her down on this day of jubilation.  
The phone rang, and she found herself almost skipping over to it. This was entirely too much for her; she needed something that would bring her back down to earth soon. Sure, it felt great, but she knew her mother would be teasing her about little birds coming to braid her hair in the mornings if she kept this up.

“Gilmore residence, Rory speaking,” she answered, still with a song in her voice.

“Hey Rory,” she heard over the line, and recognized the voice. It was Dean’s, and he definitely didn’t have a song in his voice.

\---

Rory lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling, definitely not crying. She may have been feeling numb, and upset, and angry, but she definitely wasn’t crying. So Dean decided he really didn’t want to go to the dance, and that they could just go somewhere else instead. And yes, she hadn’t been enthusiastic about the dance initially, and had told him it was fine if he didn’t want to go, but he had said he was up for it; why had he changed his mind? And hadn’t it been obvious how excited she was about the idea by the end of their conversation in Doose’s?

Rory felt herself flush slightly, at remembering how the second half of the call had gone. Things had rapidly spiraled out of control, as they both got angrier with each other, and had said some truly hurtful things. Both of them had. And while Rory had held out hope earlier that this might turn into a real relationship, that Dean might be her first true love, it was highly doubtful now. Fights like that could be survived, she knew from everything her mom had taught her (with some help along the way of Hollywood’s best), but this early on, it was doubtful. Especially not when they hadn’t even defined who they were to each other, like Lane had brought up two days ago.

The doorbell ringing and her mom’s call to her to answer it brought Rory out of her funk a little bit. As she passed through the living room, her sense of guilt and anger deepened right back, as her mom was sprawled out on the couch, her back still hurting from where she had injured herself trying to make her a dress for the dance, a dance that she wasn’t even going to anymore. Rory didn’t want to think about how her grandmother would react when she found out Rory wasn’t going to the dance after all.

She hadn’t thought it was even possible, but her enthusiasm dimmed yet further when she opened the door and saw Paris’ determined face staring back at her.

“Oh god Paris, why are you at my house?” she asked, all sense of manners her grandparents and Chilton had tried to bang into her completely fleeing. “Wait, how do you even know where I live?”

“I have to tell you, it wasn’t easy,” Paris began, her tone laced with her usual sarcasm. “What with having to go down to the school office and break the secretary’s iron will into giving up the highly classified information of a new student’s address with the only advantages on my side being my perfect record, the fact that I’m a member of the student government, and my dogged persistence. Why it took me a whole five minutes to figure out where you lived.”

That actually made a lot of sense, and despite the embarrassment that Rory felt after hearing Paris’ explanation, combined with her earlier mental state, she still found herself bristling. Something about Paris just brought out the competitive side of her, and made her want to rise to a challenge, even if it was one that had never been issued.

“Be that as it may, it doesn’t address the question of why you’re even here, Paris,” Rory tried to retort, and was somewhat gratified to see Paris actually blink at that, despite what a feeble protest it was.

“Here,” Paris said, her one hand reaching into her coat pocket before she flushed. She quickly pulled it out and reached into the pocket on the other side of her brown jacket, rapidly cycling through where anything could be stored, growing more panicked as she did so.

When it became increasingly clear that something was wrong, Rory finally felt the need to intervene. “What’s going on Paris? What are you looking for? And why are you here?”

Paris sighed guiltily. “I came by to give you your change from when you bought your tickets this afternoon. But I must have been running short on cash and … I must have accidentally included it when I paid for the ride here to Star’s Hollow.”

Rory just gaped. “You mean you came all this way to give me my change … and don’t even have the change?” At Paris’ sullen nod, she couldn’t help but exclaim further. “But it was only a dollar! Why didn’t you just wait to give it to me until tomorrow at school or something?”

Paris looked despondent, and Rory knew that she had caused it, knew that her unfortunate exclamation had only made matters worse, just like how she had made things worse with Dean over the phone earlier, but at a complete loss as to how to make things better, which was also just like her conversation with Dean earlier.

Luckily, that was the moment that fate intervened. Fate, in the guise of her mother. “Honey, why don’t you bring whoever that is at the door in here for a second,” she heard shouted from the living room, and quickly stood aside to let Paris into the house before showing her the way to where her mother was perched on the couch.

“Paris, right?” Lorelai started off, waiting for Paris to nod before continuing. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation from in here. It sounds like you took a bus or a cab out here, so you don’t have a ride back home, and don’t have any money for one either. Would you like to use the phone to maybe call your parents to give you a ride?”

Paris just shook her head before finally finding her voice. “They’re both busy with work, I couldn’t drag them out here.”

“Okay then, sweetie, no big deal,” Lorelai continued. “How about we give you some cash so you can get a ride back? Rory, honey, grab my purse, would you?”

Rory was already turned towards the end table where her mom kept her purse along with all their keys and other things before she heard Paris’ voice again, and turned to face her.

“No!” Paris all but shouted. “I mean, I can't take your money from you. It wouldn't be right.”

Lorelai looked about to protest for a moment, before a strange look passed over her face, and she began nodding her head to Paris. “I understand. In that case, how about if Rory gives you a ride home? You can take the jeep.”

\---

This was the most awkward drive Rory had ever been on. They had spent the first half in complete silence. Finally, when they were out of Stars Hollow and on the highway, the silence had built up too much and Rory had to say something.

“I'm sorry for before. I know we don't usually get along well, but I shouldn't have been so rude when you showed up at our door. I mean, even if someone I actually hated showed up at my door, I wouldn't want to treat them like that. I was just having a really bad day,” Rory babbled. It was as if she was trying to make up for the terrible fight she had had with Dean earlier, to find the right thing to say _this_ time to Paris, when she couldn't find it before.

“You don't hate me?” Paris questioned, her voice still somewhat subdued, but her tone clear.

“What?” Rory asked, lost at her question.

“You said 'if someone you actually hated' showed up at your door, implying that you don't hate me,” Paris responded.

“Oh,” Rory stared ahead at the road for a moment, thinking back over her words. Apparently she had said that. “Well, I mean, we got off on the wrong foot, and we're rivals, at least at school, but I don't hate you. Despite how smart everyone at Chilton is, you're the one who's pushing me to do better in class most of the time. I don't know if I could hate you for that. Frustrated and flustered, sure, but not hating.”

Now it was apparently Paris' turn to stare out the windshield. “I guess I didn't really hate you either. I thought I did, but it might have just been what you were saying. A very bad day for me when we first met.”

Rory nodded quickly, eager to agree with whatever Paris was saying. “So, I don't know if it's a little too soon for us to be calling each other 'friends', but maybe ...”

“Acquaintances?” Paris said, before Rory's prodigious vocabulary could think of a term that actually described what they were.

“Pals,” Rory rebutted.

“Associates.”

“Companions.”

“Partners.”

Rory jerked her head over to Paris for a moment at that one, before turning her gaze back to the highway. “Partners,” she agreed.

A silence once again stretched between them, only this time it was not as uncomfortable. For the first time since they had known each other, they were at peace in each others' presence.

“Before, you said you were having a bad day today,” Paris finally said. “It didn't seem that way back at school, when you were buying your tickets.”

“Ah,” Rory stalled for time for a second, before deciding to be honest. “Actually, Dean called me after school and told me he didn't want to go to the dance.”

“And Dean is your boyfriend?” Paris asked.

“Maybe? I mean, definitely not anymore,” Rory waved her hand in a fuzzy sort of approximation. “We never had the talk about what we actually were, and then I asked him to the dance and he said yes initially, so I was gonna ask him about it there?”

“But he dumped you instead?” Paris seemed in disbelief.

“Well, he said he didn't want to go to the dance, but he still wanted us to hang out,” Rory weakly defended. “It kind of escalated from there, and it wasn't completely his fault.”

“Wow,” Paris said, with a tone of flat disbelief. “I can't believe he wouldn't want to go to the dance with you.”

Rory was a little surprised at how quickly Paris had gone from at her throat to being her staunchest supporter. But on second thought, Paris never did anything halfway.

“What about you?” Rory asked, trying to shift the topic. “Who are you taking to the dance?”

Paris didn't respond immediately and Rory looked over at her in concern as she remained silent beyond what was normal.

“Oh come on, Paris, it can't possibly be more embarrassing than having your maybe-sorta-kinda boyfriend dump you because he would rather go literally anywhere else rather than be seen in public with you at a school dance,” Rory cajoled. She was still convinced that a large portion of the blame for their fight was hers to bear, but she actually was angry with Dean, and if it got Paris to open up she was more than willing to voice it.

Paris mumbled something under her breath, and when Rory couldn't make it out and prompted her, she spoke slightly louder. “You can't tell anyone, alright?”

It was only after Rory's nod of confirmation, that she continued. “My cousin. Nobody asked me, so my mom called her sister and is having my cousin take me.”

“No!” Rory exclaimed in shock, Paris' only response a mute nod.

“No,” Rory repeated, this time without the interrogative lilt to her voice. Paris looked up. “Look, just because neither of us could actually find a guy to take us, doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy ourselves. What if we go together?”

Paris' face had a confused sort of look that Rory couldn't make out, and having to concentrate on the road didn't help matters.

“Seriously,” Rory continued before Paris could object. “We both need someone to go with. I mean, do you really want to take your cousin to this thing? And if we show up single, that's humiliating, but if we go with each other, there's nothing wrong with two friends going to a dance together.”

“It would throw everyone for a loop if we showed up together,” Paris said. “I mean, us two of all people. Alright, I'm in.”

\---

Rory gradually began to stir to consciousness, before her surroundings hit her all at once. She was in Miss Patty's dance studio, and had fallen asleep. She had fallen asleep with _Paris_ in Miss Patty's dance studio. “Oh god,” she cried out, quickly shaking Paris' shoulder.

Paris seemed even groggier than Rory had been,  _clearly not a morning person_ , Rory thought, before she finally came fully awake. “Oh god,” Paris repeated Rory's earlier words.

“We need to go,” Rory said, and the two girls quickly grabbed their things from around the studio, pushing their way out of the crowd of the Sunday morning yoga class, and hurried down the streets back towards Rory's house.

Rory wasn't sure exactly what the future would bring; she knew her mother would probably be freaking out at home, and Paris' parents were probably right behind her. But in that moment, as they ran through Stars Hollow with their heels and purses in hands, stocking-ed feet slowly getting soaked by the light dusting of snow as the sun began to rise, Rory felt a strange sort of serenity come over her. She looked over at Paris, her hair glowing in the sunrise, and, while this certainly wasn't who she'd planned on going to the dance with, or how she had imagined the night ending, she was almost glad things had worked out this way. She was sure she wouldn't be when they got home and had to face the music, but that was still three blocks away.

 


End file.
